These chicken skillet enchiladas are easy to make and ready in 30 minutes. They also use only one pan and are great to double and freeze for a meal down the road!

Who doesn’t love a good enchilada? Make those enchiladas a skillet recipe that uses up leftover chicken, only dirties a single pan, and is ready in about 30 minutes, and you have a weeknight meal with Friday night appeal!

START WITH LEFTOVER CHICKEN

I roast a whole chicken almost every week. It’s easy to do. I repurpose the bones for stock and the leftover meat for the next day’s dinner.

In the winter, it’s often chicken noodle soup, but as the weather warms, I want less time at the stove and something I can eat with a fork! This easy skillet enchilada recipe hits the mark every time.

You may not have leftover chicken laying around. No worries! Pick up a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket or quickly poach those chicken breasts hanging out in the fridge.

A WORD ABOUT CHEESE

This recipe calls for cotija cheese, a dry, crumbly, salty Mexican cheese, but feel free to use what you enjoy and what you can find. I’m partial to both cotija and queso fresco, which is similar to cotija in that it likes to crumble, but it’s a younger cheese and has more moisture in it. Both are salty and I love them.

If you can’t find either cheese, or if, for you, an enchilada isn’t an enchilada unless it’s dripping in ooey, gooey, melty cheddar cheese, who am I to judge? Feel free to substitute shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese for the cotija. If you do sub the cheeses out, you might want to add 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of salt to your sauce.

WHAT’S IN ENCHILADA SAUCE

Traditional sauces are usually made with pureed rehydrated chilis and tomatoes, but for mine, I wanted to forego the blender and use what I have readily available in my spice drawer and pantry.

The ingredients are simple: onion and garlic, mild green chilis, tomato sauce and a trio of spices. That’s it!

HOW TO ROLL ENCHILADAS

It’s common to dip tortillas in the enchilada sauce, fry them, then fill them. For this recipe, I simplified the steps.

Flour tortillas are more pliable than corn, which give me the flexibility to skip the dip-and-fry method. I like this because I save on dishes, time, and calories from oil. (Although, I typically just consume the calories via this simple margarita recipe. It’s all about balance, right?)

To assemble each enchilada, just put the chicken, cheese, and a little sauce down the center of the tortilla, fold in the sides, roll it up and place it seam side down in the pan!

If you’re partial to corn tortillas and want to use them for this recipe, wrap them in damp paper towels and heat them briefly in the microwave just long enough to make them pliable (30 to 45 seconds). Work with one at a time, keeping the rest covered in the paper towels. Don’t fold in the sides before you roll them.

WHAT IS THE BEST PAN TO USE?

ENCHILADA VARIATIONS

Not into chicken? Feel free to add a little chili powder to leftover ground beef, steak or beans. Have loads of leftover roasted vegetables? Add them to the chicken, or make the meal vegetarian and replace all the meat.

WHAT TO SERVE WITH ENCHILADAS

So many things go with enchiladas. Did I mention margaritas? You can always opt for a classic margarita or mix it up a bit with blueberry margaritas!

HOW TO STORE AND REHEAT LEFTOVERS

These enchiladas will keep in the fridge for up to four days, or you can portion them out and freeze them for up to three months. Take an enchilada to work and just zap it in the microwave.

If you’re looking for a freezer meal, this is a great one to double, cook, freeze, and reheat. Just let the whole pan cool to room temp. Transfer them to a freezer safe container. When ready to eat, reheat them in a microwave or transfer them to a baking dish, covered in aluminum foil, and bake at 350°F for an hour.

3 Assemble the enchiladas: Put about 2 tablespoons of shredded chicken down the center of each tortilla. (You don’t really have to measure the meat. Just divide it evenly among the tortillas!) Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon cotija cheese (just eyeball it) across the chicken, and spoon 1-2 teaspoons sauce over the cheese.

Fold in the sides of the tortilla, roll it up, and put it seam side down in the sauce. Nestle them in the pan. Repeat this until the pan is full. Spoon sauce over the top of the enchiladas.

4 Top with cheese and cover: Sprinkle additional cotija cheese over the top of the enchiladas. Cover with a lid and let them simmer until the cheese is melted and the tortillas look puffy, like they soaked up some sauce. This should take about 5 minutes.

Summer Miller is the Senior Editor for Simply Recipes based in Nebraska. Her work has appeared in Bon Appetit, Eating Well, Grit, SAVEUR, and Every Day with Rachael Ray, among others. Her first book is New Prairie Kitchen (Agate Publishing, 2015).

6 Comments / Reviews

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Peggy

I haven’t tried this recipe, but if I did I would definitely recommend corn tortillas. What you have here is a mix of burritos and enchiladas. Burritos are made with flour tortillas and aren’t covered with sauce, so no problem with the tortillas absorbing too much liquid. You are also folding them like a burrito. The ends of enchiladas are usually open. To make the corn tortillas more pliable, warm them in a tortillas warmer in the microwave, or warm some of the sauce and lay them in the sauce and then roll the enchiladas. This recipe is beyond non-authentic.

I prefer corn tortillas for enchiladas as well. But seriously, no one said these are “authentic “, it says EASY. She also mentioned using corn tortillas if preferred and how to roll them, which is open at ends.
And these were very tasty by the way!

My husband and I enjoyed this easy recipe. I followed it exactly except I substituted one can of black beans for the chicken. The beans filled 6 tortillas so we had lots of sauce to cover the enchiladas. Loved the flavor of the Cojita cheese!

My favorite thing about the recipe is the flavor of the sauce and how easy it was to make. Next time, I will definitely use corn tortillas and probably cook the enchiladas in the oven. The flour tortillas became gummy and have a pasta-like consistency, which I don’t find very appealing. It was nice to try a different idea, though!